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This Samsonite Suitcase Fell 130,000 Feet From Space With Zero Damage — and We Have Footage to Prove It

You won't believe the aftermath.

By

Updated on October 25, 2024 10:12AM EDT

The Samsonite Proxis suitcase flies over Earth in outer space. — Source: Samsonite / Sent Into Space. Photo:
Samsonite

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, wait… It’s a suitcase!

Luggage authority Samsonite has been trusted by travelers for its extensive line of long-lasting luggage since 1910, predating the first-ever commercial flight by four years. Now that the prospect of commercial space travel is on the horizon, the innovative brand has its eyes set on the stars — literally.

With the help of Sent Into Space, a “marketing-focused space agency” that catapults products over 100,000 feet above the Earth’s surface, the travel brand took its reputation for durability to new heights by dropping the Proxis Global Carry-on Spinner, Samsonite's lightest and toughest suitcase to date, 130,000 feet, letting it crash back down to Earth to see if it could withstand the fall. Spoiler alert: It did. And lucky for us, it was all caught on video.

Despite being exposed to the atmosphere’s challenging elements, the suitcase made it safely back to Earth, surviving a wheels-first collision into a mountainside in Las Vegas, Nevada. Samsonite selected the Proxis suitcase for the experiment to test its state-of-the-art Roxkin outer shell, which is a fully recyclable, multilayered, and highly responsive material that Samsonite engineers and designers built to bounce back into shape under force — making the bag virtually indestructible despite its 4.6-pound weight.

“It's very strong but extremely lightweight, and in that weight-to-strength ratio is where the resilience comes from,” Ulliyada Bopanna, Vice President of Design and Innovation at Samsonite, told Travel + Leisure, exclusively.

Samsonite Proxis Global Carry-on Spinner

Proxis carry-on suitcase in orange — Source: Samsonite.
Samsonite

$500 $425 at Samsonite

This light-as-a-feather quality is what made it a perfect test subject, according to Dr. Chris Rose, Sent Into Space’s Head of Projects and Business Development. The U.K.-based agency has conducted over 1,000 flights since its founding in 2011, with some of the agency’s most notable projects including launching Astronaut Barbie into space for the doll’s 60th anniversary and blending a smoothie in space with the Blendjet 2 Portable Blender. It has even conducted the first-ever credit card transaction in space, which was done in collaboration with Visa and Mooncard.

Dr. Rose shared that while every launch is exciting, he knew this collaboration would be a pioneering moment for both Samsonite and his agency. Space launches might be the company’s bread and butter, but pulling off a successful landing would be something else entirely. And considering the potential ramifications of a "failed" test could be extreme — what if the suitcase implodes under atmospheric pressure? What if the suitcase crumples on impact? What if all that money spent on the test goes down the toilet? — Dr. Rose said he anticipated some hesitation and rigid rules from Samsonite to ensure the experiment's success.

On the contrary, Samsonite came to him asking for the test to be as “extreme” and “aggressive” as possible, he recalled: “The ambition from Samsonite was the most intriguing part of this; they were really throwing down the gauntlet." Dr. Rose continued, “Within a matter of seconds, I knew this project was going to be a remarkable one. This wasn't just about sending a case into space. This was about executing the world's most extreme drop test.”

Along with requests that the suitcase be totally exposed to the elements and unprotected by any kind of protective shell, Dr. Rose added that the brand requested he “slam it into a mountain” just to see how well the suitcase held up. “I'm glad we could find that mountain for them,” he quipped, “because the footage speaks for itself.”

Bopanna shared that Samsonite’s team was confident that the Proxis carry-on would survive the trek since its luggage already goes through a rigorous testing process in-house before it's released to consumers. “We do a lot of drop tests ourselves,” he explained. “All of our products are tested to a very, very high degree of strength and resilience, so there was no concern about if this is going to pass or not.” Funnily enough, Bopanna said one of the more pressing concerns was its weight: “Is it even going to come back down?”

Samsonite Proxis Global Carry-on Spinner

$500 $425 at Samsonite

Safety and environmental impact, too, were primary concerns for both Samsonite and Sent Into Space, Dr. Rose assured. “We could have put this aboard a rocket, but it wouldn't have been nearly as environmentally considerate,” he mused. Instead, the Sent Into Space engineers used a state-of-the-art balloon spacecraft that uses renewable hydrogen gas rather than helium, a finite resource, to elevate the suitcase into the stratosphere. “Most importantly,” he added, “we don't leave anything in space and we don't leave anything on the ground.”

As with previous product launches, the Sent Into Space team mounted a 4K camera system and a flight computer to the Proxis, using satellite and radio communication capabilities to closely monitor the Proxis’ flight path, the atmospheric conditions it passed through, and its eventual return to Earth.

After successfully reaching the stratosphere, the Proxis made its descent and was brought down at controlled speeds by a self-deploying parachute system. Soon after, the Proxis crashed into the ground, colliding wheels-first before falling on its outer shell — all of which was captured on video.

These wheels, Bopanna explained, likely held up thanks to Samsonite’s patented suspension technology. “We've built in the equivalent of a shock absorber into the fork,” he said. “The material that the fork is made from is proprietary to us, it's our own unique chemistry.”

Once the suitcase crashed down, Dr. Rose and his team drove through the night to retrieve the carry-on, hoping for the best but keeping expectations reasonable. They were happy to find that it came out of the experiment unscathed. According to Dr. Rose, they found no scratches or visible damage to the handle, the exterior, or even the wheels, which took the brunt of the force.

“What a testament to the product," he began. "We launched it to space, we smashed it into a mountain from 130,000 feet above the Earth, we exposed it to the most aggressive thermal and pressure cycles there are,” and yet, it remained intact.

So — what’s next? With commercial space travel looming on the horizon and the "ultimate drop test" a glowing success, Bopanna shared an aspiration that Samsonite will be the luggage brand future space tourists will trust for galactic trips to come: “People will still have to figure out a way to carry what they need, what's precious to them, and as we continue innovating materials and technology, we will be a part of that. This is the future of luggage.”